1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to components for a gas turbine engine and, more particularly, to the additive manufacture thereof.
2. Background Information
Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section to pressurize airflow, a combustor section to burn a hydrocarbon fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine section to extract energy from the resultant combustion gases.
In the gas turbine industry, methods for fabricating components with internal passageways, such as blades and vanes within the turbine section, using additive manufacturing invite much attention. Since a component is produced in a continuous process in an additive manufacturing operation, features associated with conventional manufacturing processes such as machining, forging, welding, casting, etc. can be eliminated leading to savings in cost, material, and time.
An inherent feature of metallic components fabricated by additive manufacturing is that the metallic material forming the component has a polycrystalline microstructure. However, for numerous types of turbine components it is preferable to use a metallic material having a single crystal, or a columnar grain microstructure, which microstructure is able to withstand the higher temperatures and stresses typically experienced in the operating environment in a hot gas stream.